Demographics

3,000 members of the public aged 20 or over were randomly selected for face-to-face interviews between the 9th and 19th of October 2008. 1,826 people, or 60.9%, agreed to take part. Sex and age demographics were not given, but since Cabinet Office surveys are conducted face-to-face they tend to catch an older demographic.

As background on the issue, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has a pamphlet describing the Japanese position, Gregory Clarke wrote an article on this for the Japan Times a few years ago, and Russia Today looked at the new Japanese curriculum that will start teaching that the isles are Japanese.

Research results

First, all respondents were shown a card describing the history of and the official position on the Northern Territories, and activities for raising awareness, such as educational events, pamphlets, and panel discussions. Also, every year the 7th of February is Northern Territories Day.

Finally, the card concluded by reminding people that activities were centred around mostly old folk such as former residents of the isles, so in the future there are expectations that the baton will be passed to the younger generation, who are expected to participate and continue these activities.

Q1: Do you know about the “Northern Territories dispute” between Japan and Russia? (Sample size=1,826)

Yes, know the details (to SQ)	39.2%
Yes, know a little about it (to SQ)	40.0%
Just heard about it (to SQ)	18.8%
Not heard of it	1.4%
Don’t know	0.5%

Q1SQ: From where did you learn about the Northern Territories dispute? (Sample size=1,790, multiple answer)

Television, radio	89.1%
Newspaper	67.0%
Schoolteacher	29.6%
Book, magazine, other publication	20.4%
Friends, family	12.2%
Publication, poster for educational event, etc	10.2%
Publicity, educational event	9.6%
Internet	4.9%
Other	1.5%
Don’t know	0.1%

Q2: Do you know that the government and the people are carrying out various initiatives regarding activities requesting the return of the Northern Territories? (Sample size=1,826)

Know details of the initiatives	20.4%
Know a little about the initiatives	26.0%
Just heard about the initiatives	41.1%
Not heard about the initiatives	11.0%
Don’t know	1.6%

Q3: Would you like to participate in activities requesting the return of the Northern Territories? (Sample size=1,826)

Want to proactively participate	2.0%
Want to participate if there is the opportunity	32.5%
Don’t really want to participate (to SQ)	36.6%
Don’t want to participate at all (to SQ)	22.8%
Can’t say either way	4.1%
Don’t know	2.0%

Q3SQ: Why don’t you want to participate? (Sample size=1,085, multiple answer)

Time, effort needed is too great	40.2%
Don’t know the details of the activities	36.5%
Don’t think there’s the need, any effect	18.8%
Not interested in the matter	16.5%
Given my health, etc, it would be difficult to participate	15.0%
Somebody else will do it	10.2%
Other	5.1%
No particular reason	1.8%
Don’t know	0.8%

Q4: In order to get the younger generation to participate in activities requesting the return of the Northern Territories, what sort of initiatives are important? (Sample size=1,826, multiple answer)

Ample school education to impart correct understanding and recognition of the Northern Territories dispute	55.8%
Ample television programs, newspaper columns on the Northern Territories dispute	53.7%
Ample younger generation-targeted internet-based publicity, education	43.5%
Publicity, educational events aimed at the younger generation	25.8%
Hold meetings where they can listen to talks by former residents of the isles	24.2%
Study tours to Nemuro city and other areas bordering on the Northern Territories	14.6%
Other	1.3%
Nothing in particular	2.5%
Don’t know	3.4%

Research results

Between the 12th and 14th of November 2008 300 members of the Marsh monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 50.0% of the sample were female, 20.0% in their twenties, 20.0% in their thirties, 20.0% in their forties, 20.0% in their fifties, and 20.0% aged sixty or older.

I am certainly not for government-level censorship of either domestic or foreign web content, but I do support properly-executed legal orders for domestic sites to remove content, and of course self-regulation by service providers. The web should be neither a free-for-all or a free-for-none, but instead a healthy balance must be reached. In Q2, I think they must mean within Japan, as The Great Firewall of China is a fact.

For those curious about the Japanese language used in the original survey, I translated 検閲, ken-etsu, as censorship, and 規制, kisei, as regulation.

Research results

Q1: Do you know about “web censorship”? (Sample size=300)

Can explain it in great detail	4.0%
Know a lot about it	16.7%
Heard about it	53.7%
Don’t know anything about it	25.7%

Q2: Do you think there is web censorship? (Sample size=300)

Yes	60.0%
No	40.0%

Q3: Do you think web censorship is needed? (Sample size=300)

Should be regulation and censorship	14.0%
Should be regulation, depending on contents	51.0%
Can’t say either way	27.0%
Would be better if there was no censorship	5.7%
There shouldn’t be any censorship	2.3%

Demographics

Between the 11th and 18th of November 2008 465 university students who were members of the LinNo SNS completed an internet-based questionnaire. No further demographic information was provided.

The questionnaire seemed just a little tame to me, although perhaps a fuller set of questions was asked. Do students believe it should be legalised? Why was “join in” an option if a friend was puffing away, but not if it was a boy or girlfriend? What about usage of other drugs? What about the “just say no” policy? Do they believe it to be a gateway drug?

Research results

Q1: Have you ever used cannabis? (Sample size=465)

Yes	3.4%
No	96.6%

Q2: Have you ever been in situations where you could have used cannabis? (Sample size=465)

No, never	91.0%
Not really	3.9%
A little	2.6%
Very much so	2.6%

Q3: Would you like to try cannabis? (Sample size=465)

No, never	79.4%
Not really	9.9%
A little	7.7%
Very much so	3.0%

Q4: If it was legalised, would you like to try cannabis? (Sample size=465)

No, never	65.6%
Not really	18.3%
A little	10.8%
Very much so	5.4%

Q5: Has someone close to you used cannabis? (Sample size=465)

Yes	17.0%
No	83.0%

Q6: Do you feel cannabis is an issue close to you? (Sample size=465)

No, not at all	51.8%
Not really	26.9%
A little	17.4%
Very much so	3.9%

Q7: If a friend was using cannabis, what would you do? (Sample size=465)

Persuade them to quit	49.5%
Warn them about it	21.7%
Pretend I didn’t see	11.6%
Join in	3.2%
Other	14.0%

Q8: If your boyfriend/girlfriend was using cannabis, what would you do? (Sample size=465)

Persuade them to quit	76.1%
Warn them about it	9.2%
Other	14.6%

Demographics

On the 13th of October 2008 1,199 people selected by some undescribed means completed a presumably online questionnaire. 52.0% of the sample were female, 15.0% were in their twenties, 16.0% in their thirties, 18.0% in their forties, 21.0% in their fifties, and 30.0% in their sixties. Given the round percentages, don’t ask why they couldn’t find one more person to round the sample up to 1,200! It’s also a curiously top-heavy sample, with the majority of the sample being over fifty.

I’m surprised that (as far as I know) no local authority has tried moving more services online, as one still needs to get a paper print-out of one’s residency certificate for such things as mortgages and other large loans, or at least why there cannot be vending machines that will spew out the documents 24-7 instead of requiring people to attend during working hours.

Here’s my town’s application form download service.

Research results

Q1: Does the local authority that you reside in have a web site? (Sample size=1,199)

Yes (to SQ1)	81.8%
No	1.8%
Don’t know	16.4%

Q1SQ1: Have you visited this web site? (Sample size=981)

Yes (to SQ2)	86.1%
No	13.9%

Putting the two together we get the following data.

Q1+Q1SQ1: Have you visited the web site for the local authority that you reside in? (Sample size=1,199)

Yes	70.5%
No	11.3%
Doesn’t have a web site	1.8%
Don’t know if it has a web site	16.4%

Q1SQ2: Have you ever used the following services on this web site? (Sample size=845, multiple answer)

	Votes	Percentage
Getting application forms for residency certificate copies	313	37.0%
Getting application forms for residency certificate changes	286	33.8%
Getting application forms for family register copies, changes	269	31.8%
Getting application forms for national health insurance-related matters	160	18.9%
Getting application forms for care-related matters	147	17.4%
Other	217	25.7%
Not got any application forms	269	31.8%

Demographics

Between the 30th of October and the 2nd of November 2008 1,091 members of the goo Research monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 53.1% of the sample were male, 16.3% in their teens, 18.5% in their twenties, 21.8% in their thirties, 16.1% in their forties, 15.6% in their fifties, and 11.6% aged sixty or older.

I’ve recently started using docomo’s my docomo site (no English version) for almost daily bill checking now, as I’m trying to find out if their pake-hodai double plan is actually cheaper for me, as I suspect it isn’t as I use barely 1,000 yen’s worth of packets, but as part of my basic plan I get 1,000 yen’s worth of free packets, so I think I’d have to double my usage to get my money’s worth. I’ll know at the end of the month.

I also used docomo’s billing plan diagnostic service, but it was a really unfriendly service and did not link directly to my own bill, so rather than it using my last six months-worth of data, for instance, I had to retype all the data, and because it was done as some sort of AJAX/Flash hack, the browser back button didn’t work so I couldn’t easily try out different scenarios. Checking it again today it won’t let me use Opera 9.6 even though it says only Opera 8.5 and below are not good enough, and it recommends the just far too buggy Internet Explorer 6.0 instead.

Research results

From the original sample 1,016 people, or 93.1% had mobile phones. Of these people, 75.3% had changed their mobile phone plan or changed or added other associated services. These 765 were asked the following.

Q1: How did you change, add to your mobile plan, services? (Sample size=765, multiple answer)

	Votes	Percentage
At provider’s shop counter	474	62.0%
At provider’s web page from mobile phone	252	32.9%
At provider’s web page from computer	190	28.4%
At provider’s telephone support line	101	13.2%
Don’t know	2	0.3%

Q2: Have you used your mobile phone service provider’s billing diagnostic service to determine what services to change, add? (Sample size=765)

Have used	40.4%
Haven’t used	42.5%
Didn’t know there was such a service	11.9%
Can’t remember	5.2%

Other than from such diagnostic web site, 55.3% got information from the service provider’s web site, 38.7% from mobile phone shop staff, and 35.4% from the provider’s catalogue.

The next question was asked of all 1,016 mobile phone users.

Q3: How do you check your detailed usage charges? (Sample size=1,016, multiple answer)

	Votes	Percentage
Statement by post	631	62.1%
View statement on provider’s web site	300	29.5%
Statement by email	135	13.3%
Other	14	1.4%
Don’t know	19	1.9%

In addition, 59.6% knew that one could get a discount by cancelling the postal delivery of the bill, but as can be seen, not many are taking advantage of such a service.

Demographics

Between the 25th and 28th of July 2008 1,072 members of the goo Research online monitor panel completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 50.3% of the sample were male, 5.7% in their teens, 14.4% in their twenties, 31,0% in their thirties, 28.1% in their forties, 10.5% in their fifties, and 10.4% aged sixty or older. Note that the score in the results refers to the relative number of votes for each option, not a percentage of the total sample.

At home I do and enjoy most of the washing of dishes, throwing out the rubbish, hoovering, and garden maintenance, but I hate the most doing the toilet, but luckily my wife takes most care of that. Cleaning the air conditioner is probably the most bother as we have a high ceiling and some of the air conditioner covers are a bit broken!

Ranking result

Q: What housework do you think is the most bother to do? (Sample size=539, men)

Rank		Score
1	Washing dishes, tidying away dishes	100
2	Cleaning kitchen (cooker, extractor hood, etc)	79.3
3	Washing bath	66.9
4	Cleaning toilet, sink	66.5
5	Throwing out the rubbish	66.1
6	Wiping windows	65.3
7	Cleaning room floors (by hand, vacuum)	63.7
8	Washing windows, window sash	62.5
9	Washing car	61.8
10	Cleaning air conditioner	61.0
11	Cooking	59.0
12	Tidying up room shelves, desk tops, etc	56.2
13	Washing, hanging out, folding clothes	55.4
14	Ironing	55.0
15	Sewing on buttons, etc	49.0
16=	Cleaning the fridge	40.2
16=	Setting, tidying up futon, making bed	40.2
18	Changing between summer and winter clothes	37.5
19	Tidying garden, porch	36.3
20	Cleaning garage, storage room	34.7

Q: What housework do you think is the most bother to do? (Sample size=533, women)

Rank		Score
1	Kitchen cleaning (cooker, extractor hood, etc)	100
2	Ironing	90.5
3	Washing dishes, tidying away dishes	82.8
4	Wiping windows	78.5
5	Washing windows, window sash	75.8
6	Washing the bath	70.2
7	Cooking	69.3
8	Cleaning toilet, sink	67.5
9	Cleaning room floors (by hand, vacuum)	63.8
10	Sewing on buttons, etc	63.5
11	Changing between summer and winter clothes	63.2
12	Cleaning air conditioner	62.9
13	Cleaning the fridge	59.2
14	Throwing out the rubbish	57.7
15	Deciding each day’s schedule	57.1
16	Tidying up room shelves, desk tops, etc	54.0
17	Setting, tidying up futon, making bed	53.7
18	Washing, hanging out, folding clothes	48.5
19	Tidying garden, porch	46.6
20	Balancing the family budget, family management	43.3

Demographics

Between the 24th and 26th of September 2008 1,044 members of the goo Research online monitor panel completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 50.6% of the sample were male, 5.8% in their teens, 12.7% in their twenties, 32.3% in their thirties, 27.6% in their forties, 12.3% in their fifties, and 9.3% aged sixty or older. Note that the score in the results refers to the relative number of votes for each option, not a percentage of the total sample.

I occasionally do 3, I must admit, and at home I always lick the yoghurt lid, and my wife gets annoyed at me sometimes when I don’t do triangle eating. Other than that I claim to be free of all the other habits!

Research results

Q: What bad eating habits can you just not break? (Sample size=1,044)

Rank		Score
1	Reading the newspaper over a meal	100
2	Saving all the good bits to eat last	96.6
3	Licking the cellophane wrapped on cakes	81.7
4	Talking with my mouth full	79.1
5	Pouring miso soup over rice	72.4
6	Cracking raw egg directly over rice instead of using an intermediate bowl	61.6
7	Eating with my elbows on the table	61.2
8	Hovering chopsticks over the plate whilst deciding what to eat	60.1
9	Leaving behind food I dislike	44.4
10	Sniffing food before eating	44.0
11	Nibbling the sweet topping crust off Castella cake	41.0
12	Not eating triangle style (middle is main dish, to the above left and right are rice and side dish; one should take one chopsticks-full from each in turn)	40.7
13	Licking the plate clean	38.8
14	Using bread to scrape the remaining jam, butter out of the container	38.1
15	Licking chopsticks	34.7
16	Putting far too much pepper, spice onto food	34.3
17	Eating instant ramen straight out of the saucepan	33.2
18	Going to the toilet in the middle of a meal	31.0
19=	Stuffing my mouth full of food	28.7
19=	Bringing my mouth to the food instead of the other way around	28.7
21	Putting the chopsticks down directly on the table	28.0
22	Noisy chewing	26.1
23	Slurping spaghetti	25.7
24	Puting on condiments before tasting	23.5
25	Leaving the pizza, bread crust behind	19.0
26	Chewing with my mouth open	14.9
27	Pouring mayonnaise on everything	14.6
28	Scraping my knife on the plate	14.2
29	Eating with the serving chopsticks	12.3
30	Using a toothpick during the meal	11.9

Demographics

Between the 6th and 10th of November 2008 300 members of the Marsh monitor panel completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 50.0% of the sample were male, 20.0% in their twenties, 20.0% in their thirties, 20.0% in their forties, 20.0% in their fifties, and 20.0% aged sixty or older.

I don’t know how Japanese discussion works on the internet, but I was again extremely disappointed at the US coverage on the various social news sites, as the arguments focus around why one shouldn’t vote for the other guy rather than actually dealing with the issues. I still have little idea what Mr Obama plans to do, and given the state of the world economy these days, and given that I don’t believe he will keep all his promises, and given the size of the USA, I feel he cannot do much more than tinker at the controls for his first term.

Research results

Q1: Have you ever gathered information online regarding deciding who to vote for? (Sample size=300)

Yes (to SQs)	57.3%
No	42.7%

Q1SQ1: What kinds of contents did you refer to in order to decide who to vote for? (Sample size=172, multiple answer)

	Votes	Percentage
News sites	140	81.4%
Party official web sites	46	26.7%
Politicians’ official web sites	40	23.3%
Popular political blogs	26	15.1%
Politics-related bulletin boards	23	13.4%
SNS politicial discussion areas	17	9.9%
Video sharing sites	15	8.7%
Other	2	1.2%
Can’t remember	12	7.0%

Q1SQ2: What kind of content the biggest effect on voting? (Sample size=172)

News sites	57.0%
Party official web sites	9.3%
Politicians’ official web sites	8.7%
Popular political blogs	4.7%
Politics-related bulletin boards	3.5%
SNS politicial discussion areas	1.2%
Video sharing sites	0.6%
None in particular	14.0%

Q1SQ3: Do you think that internet-based information and argument has a big effect on the outcome of elections? (Sample size=172)

Yes	51.7%
No	10.5%
Can’t say either way	37.8%

Demographics

Between the 20th and 27th of August 2008 9,029 memebers of the DIMSDRIVE monitor group completed a private online questionnaire. 51.6% of the sample were female, 1.2% in their teens, 13.4% in their twenties, 33.8% in their thirties, 29.9% in their forties, 14.9% in their fifties, and 6.8% aged sixty or older. As a bonus statistic, 27.2% were current smokers, 19.3% ex-smokers, and 53.5% had never smoked.

Note that Sunstar make cheap-and-cheerful battery-operated toothbrushes that they sell alongside their manual counterparts in almost all pharmacies and supermarkets, where as all the other manufacturers make proper brushes.

I have a Braun Oral-B that I bought with points from a credit card, but I only use it at the weekends as cleaning and drying after every use during the week is too much bother!

Research results

Q1: Have you used an electric toothbrush? (Sample size=9,092)

Currently use	19.4%
Used to use	38.0%
Never used (to Q9)	42.6%

Older people were more likely to have used electric brushes, and although there were more current male users than female users, the number of ex-users were higher for females, a bit of a curious statistic. Smokers were slightly more likely to use than those who had never smoked, but there was almost no difference between current and ex-smoker rates.

Q2: Why did you think you ought to try using an electric toothbrush? (Sample size=5,223, multiple answer)

Seemed to brush thoroughly	40.5%
Seemed it would feel good to use	28.6%
Worried that my current brush left bits unbrushed	28.5%
Wanted to try (was interested in one)	28.1%
Worried about plaque, tartar	27.0%
Was cheap	25.7%
Seemed to brush reliably even with poor technique	20.9%
Worried teeth were dirty, had yellow spots	16.5%
Got it as a present	14.8%
Worried about bad breath, mouth odour	11.4%
Family, friends recommended it	10.6%
Had gum disease	9.0%
Just saw it in a shop	7.2%
Has dental caries (decay)	5.0%
Seemed it would brush softly, gently	4.9%
Television, newspaper, magazine, etc recommended it	3.9%
Dentist, specialist recommented it	3.7%
Seemed easy to brush with brace, bridge, etc	1.2%
Shop assistant recommended it	0.8%
Other	1.7%
No particular reason	3.6%

All ex-users now skipped to the question between Q8 and Q9.

Q3: Who is the maker of your current electric toothbrush? (Sample size=1,764)

Braun (Oral-B)	26.2%
National/Panasonic (Dolts, etc)	23.0%
Philips (Sonicare)	12.6%
Omron Health Care (Mediclean, etc)	11.3%
Toray (Ultima)	4.4%
Sunstar (G.U.M)	4.3%
Tescom (Blanca)	0.4%
Sanyo (Hapish, etc)	0.3%
Other	4.3%
Don’t know	13.2%

Q4: Where did you purchase your current electric toothbrush? (Sample size=1,764)

Electrical superstore	43.1%
Internet mail order, auction	16.3%
Drug store	11.4%
Discount store	3.6%
Supermarket	3.5%
Dentist, hospital	3.4%
Home centre	3.2%
Small electrical shop	11.1%
LOFT, Tokyu Hands, etc	0.7%
Department store	0.5%
Variety shop	0.2%
Other	2.2%
Don’t know	1.0%
Didn’t buy it myself (to Q6)	9.8%

Panasonic the maker was most often bought at electrical superstores, Philips and Toray tops two for internet purchasing, and Sunstar top by far at drug stores and supermarkets.

Q5: About how much did you pay for your current electric toothbrush? (Sample size=1,575)

Up to 999 yen	5.8%
1,000 to 2,999 yen	16.4%
3,000 to 4,999 yen	16.4%
5,000 to 7,999 yen	10.9%
8,000 to 9,999 yen	12.9%
10,000 to 14,999 yen	17.5%
15,000 to 19,999 yen	6.0%
20,000 yen or more	2.5%
Don’t know, can’t remember	11.6%

Q6: What did you reference when selecting your current electric toothbrush? (Sample size=1,764, multiple answer)

Looked at product in store	42.9%
Maker’s web site	16.3%
Other internet site	14.1%
Catalogue, pamphlet	12.7%
Television	8.8%
Family, friend’s recommendation	7.6%
Shop staff’s recommendation	6.4%
Dentist’s, doctor’s, specialist’s recommendation	5.9%
Magazine	3.7%
Newspaper	2.9%
Hospital leaflet, poster, etc	1.3%
Other	0.9%
Didn’t reference anything	21.3%

By maker, interestingly Philips was the one most often recommended by dentists and other specialists, with 19.3% of purchasers hearing about it that way, over four times the rate of the next. Toray was most often discovered via the internet, with 35.1% referencing unofficial sources, but it was also top for purchasers referring to the official home page, catalogues, and television.

Q7: Which of the following points influenced you when selecting your current electric toothbrush? (Sample size=1,764, multiple answer)

Cheap	32.4%
Maker, brand	29.3%
Has ultrasonic feature	22.3%
Rapid, powerful brush strokes	19.5%
Extra brushes are cheap	15.0%
High-class, high functionality item	12.6%
Easy to hold grip	10.l9%
Brush way of movement	10.4%
Tartar removal, whitening, other features	10.4%
Gets right to the hard-to-reach parts	8.8%
Has pronounced “just brushed” feel	7.7%
Gentle on teeth	7.3%
Brush head materials, softness, shape, etc	7.2%
Quiet	5.2%
Can choose brushing mode, length	3.7%
Selection of different heads	3.1%
Design, mascot character	2.2%
Has water spray	1.0%
Built-in navi system, gatope-za-	1.0%
Infrared disinfectant system	0.3%
Other	3.4%
Nothing in particular	5.9%
Didn’t choose it myself	12.4%

Toray users chose theirs for the ultrasonic feature, which, when taken along with the previous question, suggests that the word-of-mouth effect, therefore the quality (or at least the sense of quality) of the cleaning given by their brushes is very high. I want to look into them too!

Q8: How satisified are you with your current electric toothbrush? (Sample size=1,764)

Completely satisfied	15.5%
Somewhat satisfied	64.1%
Can’t say either way	16.7%
Somewhat dissatisfied	2.7%
Very dissatisfied	1.0%

Given the previous question results, surprisingly it was not Toray but Philips who had the highest percentage of users completely satisfied, but adding together both degrees of satisfaction it was actually Panasonic who came out tops! Toray also had the second-highest percentage of neutral users, but no negative feedback at all.

By price, the more people paid the more likely they were to be totally satisfied.

Unfortunately, at this point there was an error in the report, and although a summary of the question “Why did you stop using an electric toothrush?”, asked to the 3,459 ex-users, was printed, the full results were not. The summary was as follows.

The top reason (multiple answers allowed) for quitting was that brushing was more difficult than they thought it would be, with 35.0% citing this reason. Next, 28.4% felt more satisfied doing it by hand, 28.1% found it all just too much of a bother, 22.5% disliked having to buy extra brush heads, and 22.3% felt the price of the extra heads was too high. For the last two answers regarding buying spare brushes, I wonder how big the intersection between the 22.5% and the 22.3% was.

Now, the last question was for those who had never used an electric toothbrush according to Q1.

Q9: Do you want to use an electric toothbrush in the future? (Sample size=3,869)

Really want to use	13.2%
Perhaps want to use	41.2%
Can’t say either way	23.3%
Perhaps don’t want to use	13.6%
Don’t want to use at all	8.7%